Source: Targeted Oncology, January 2017

BRAF inhibitor encorafenib (LGX818) combined with the MEK inhibitor binimetinib (MEK162) reduced the risk of progression or death by 46% compared with vemurafenib (Zelboraf) for patients with BRAF-mutant unresectable melanoma, according to findings from cohort 1 of the phase III COLUMBUS trial.

In the study, which was presented at the 2016 Society for Melanoma Research Congress, the median progression-free survival (PFS) by independent review was 14.9 months with encorafenib plus binimetinib versus 7.3 months for vemurafenib (HR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.41-0.71; P <.001). In the single-agent encorafenib arm, the median PFS was 9.6 months.

“This regimen does represent, potentially, a new treatment option for these patients,” said lead investigator Keith T. Flaherty, MD, director of the Termeer Center for Targeted Therapy, Massachusetts General Hospital and professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School. “At the time this trial was launched, vemurafenib was the treatment standard and combination therapy was still in phase II trials. The median of 7.3 months with vemurafenib is what we would have expected based on historical data.”